Anyone have Coincident Frankenstein amps?


I'm looking for a nice 300B based amp, and this is at the top of my wish list. Anyone have any input on the performance of these amps? Any other brands you would suggest? Just want to try a 300B based amp to switch back and forth with the 845 based amp I have now. Thanks!
afc

Showing 15 responses by afc

What's the cost on the Yamamoto amps? Anyone listened to the Grant Fidelity A-534B? Has received fantastic reviews, and is very, very reasonably priced.

It's very tough to find a used pair of Frankensteins out there. Just don't see them. Owners must really love them.
Coltrane, I look forward to see what you think of that amp. I really liked it. Great looking piece, and I like the idea of EL34 driver tubes for the 300B power tubes. Unfortunately, it's not a match for me. Spoke with Ian Grant. Seems like a great guy. But the 534B cannnot operate as a "direct" option power amp, and my subs can't run off speaker taps. Also, the A534B doesn't have a phone stage, so I'd have to forsake the very nice phono stage in my EAR 868 and buy a separate one.
Too bad. Seems like a very nice amplifier. Still taking a long hard look at the Franks....
I think I will...so psyched to try them out, I actually sent the payment today- by overnight express no less. Really want to hear these amps. I see yours have black faceplates- were they the first iteration of the Franks, Montejay? What are the differences between those and the one I will be receiving? Did you get the upgraded tubes? Israel calls them the "black bottle" 300B....are those the KR300B that he used to use as upgrades, or are the the Shuguang Treasure models? Have you tried any other 300B tubes? I have read that the tubes used in these amps can significantly alter the sound. It's easy to roll since they auto-bias.
Nice to hear. I purchased them with the upgrade Blume offers- the Shuguang Treasure Black Bottle 300B's. Should ship tomorrow- arrival Saturday or Monday. Could be a VERY nice weekend here.
Nice. The Grant is made in Canada, no? It looked like a very nice amp cosmetically, quite attractive, and the reviews were very strong. I'd have gone for it had I been able to use it as a power amp only, but that's not an option, nor would it have allowed me to run my sub without some serious jack rigging. Perhaps it's the 300B sound you like so much? I'm sure the amp has a lot to do with it. The Grant products seem to be quality built pieces. Meanwhile.....my Frankensteins were shipped to Denver (I'm in South Carolina)....imagine that person's surprise when he opened the boxes and found Franks instead of the Dragons he ordered....they've been re-routed to me, but won't arrive until Monday at the latest. Boooo.....

Coltrane, nice to see you enjoying the Grant.
Ah. I see that Grant imports products from China and sells them under the Grant name. My bad.
Got the Frankensteins today. Too soon to form much of an opinion, but they seem very transparent in the mids without coloration. Doesn't seem to lack much in the guts department, either, as they get plenty loud without any signs of stress.
Are yours a bit grainy on warm up? For the first 15 minutes of listening or so, they seem a bit dirty- but once warm, they're crystal clear. It's an interesting transition from the Franks to the MastersounD. The former is exquisitely detailed- you can hear picks moving over strings, and everything seems right there. The MastersounD has WAY more grunt- it can overpower the solid state Rowland without breaking a sweat. I was a bit surprised at how much more headroom seems available with the 845 amp than there is with the Franks. Yet, the MastersounD retains a lot of the clarity of the Franks. Each have their strengths.
Very true. Also very true about comparing a 300B tube to the output one gets from an 845 tube. But I have been just a bit surprised by the relative headroom the amps seem to have....the MastersounD seems to have a LOT more- more than I had expected. I think a lot of it has to do with the music you listen to as well. Jazz, classical (some of it), seems like the Franks win with their accuracy and detail. You want to crank it up with some rock and roll, or even the 1812 Overture, the MastersounD becomes boss. The 300B's have that delicacy in the mids that is really, really nice....but the 845 tube isn't that inferior to it. I'm fortunate. Have the option of going back and forth between top notch SET amps based on different output tubes. It's a fun trial and error routine. Also need to nab some better IC's to run with the Franks- the old MIT's I'm using don't hold a candle to the Audio Metallurgy GA-0's I have with the MastersounD. Hoping that changes when I add in the Discovery Plus 4 IC's to the Frankenstein circuit. Waiting on some XLR-RCA adapters right now.

Wonder why the Franks are only rated at 8 wpc, while some other SET 300B's are capable of 15-20 wpc? Not complaining, just curious.
Found a cure to some of the issues. Well, not a cure, because it wasn't really a problem....the Discovery cables added more neutrality to the Franks...definitely cleaner. Going to go with some Coincident IC's to clean things up even more. The big thing was setting the gain down on the CD5. It really brought out the clarity in the Franks. Was using high gain- on the medium setting, they're clear as a bell. Not too surprising, as Doug Schroeder mentioned in his CD5 review that the high gain can add some noise into the circuit. The Franks get better with each listening session.
Update: The Frankensteins are really opening up. Very clear, great imaging, dead quiet. Bass is authoratative, not rolled off, and the highs are excellent, with little roll off as well. Think some of the grainy character was due to the MIT cables I was using- they're old and have seen their fair share of abuse. The Coincident Extreme IC's make the amps sound even better. Very neutral. Seem cleaner than the Discovery cables. Thanks to all who helped me out here. These are great amplifiers, and I'm exceptionally pleased with them. Sure as hell don't sound like "only" 8 watts now. New turntable arrives this week. Can't wait to see how it sounds then.
Tonality/timbre is very neutral in my opinion, Charles. They don't seem to color the sound at all- what's on the source is what you get, right down to very fine soft sounds at the fringe of the recordings. They pull everything out of the source. The soundstage and imaging is fabulous- you seem to be able to place instruments and voice in space like you don't get with the 845 amplifier. Cannot wait until my analog rig arrives tomorrow- should open up a whole new world with which to play in. Israel Blume was dead on- these 8 wpc are a very, very big sounding 8 wpc as the amps and tubes begin to break in, and it will only get better. He's also been an invaluable source of information to me. Just a great guy, very easy to work with. I think a lot of my initial issues with "grunt" and "graininess" were related to interconnects- the improvement I've seen with better interconnects is substantial, as in any initial reservations I had with the Franks has vanished.

Harmonic overtone preservation? LOL. You got me there, Charles. That means as much to me as pterygopalatine fossa probably means to you. If you know what the latter is, my hat is off to you in a very big way. Care to help me out with the harmonic overtone preservation stuff? Always open to learning from others here.
Don't need more power. As the Franks have broken in some, they've really cleaned up all the way around. It's tough to overdrive them with the speakers I have....just sound great, and they play plenty loud with efficient speakers.
You were right on, Charles. I've since let the MastersounD out on loaner duty to Zu Audio. They'll take good care of it, but I don't think I'm missing too much. Pairing the Franks with a nice analog front end is simply intoxicating. Haven't listened to a CD in weeks now. Would love to hear the Statement Linestage. Supposed to be a great match for the Frankensteins. Wanna swap for a bit, EAR for Statement? LOL! Only problem is, I'd lose my phono stage if I did that.....
I may have "decreased" my power requirements some, but that's changing....bought a brand new Ayon Triton a few weeks back. It's at a friend's house in Rochester being broken in. I am in no rush to get it, since I have the Franks on hand...but when my buddy does ship it down, it will be interesting to see how the 80/120 wpc of the Triton compares. Amplifiers, for me, are just a nice way to change up the sound of a system without sucking up the space that speakers do. Didn't need the Triton, just got a deal I could not pass up. Plus, it seems that the Zu speakers, while very sensitive, really like more juice. They seem to really open up when given more power. Will be yet another interesting comparison. That's half the fun, isn't it? But I do have doubts that the Triton, as good as it is supposed to be, will be able to match the clarity and detail of the Frankensteins. We'll see......